Best of enemies: United captain Vidic has helped City's Nastasic settle at bitter Manchester rivals

They might stand on opposite sides of Manchester and be competing for the Premier League title, but Matija Nastasic has revealed that Serbian compatriot Nemanja Vidic is helping him to settle in England.

Nastasic has arguably been the most impressive of the five players signed by Manchester City on deadline day last summer after the champions gave Fiorentina £12million and Stefan Savic in exchange for the young centre-back.

Despite the fierce rivalry with Manchester United, 19-year-old Nastasic turned to Vidic for advice when he moved to this country and has become good friends with the Old Trafford skipper.

‘Of course I spoke with him when I arrived to ask advice and he has been great with me,’ said Nastasic. ‘I still speak with him. For me he is a great friend and a great person.

‘He gave me general advice, not just about football but about lifestyle and young players adapting to English football.

‘I spoke with Stefan as well because he took my place at Fiorentina. I knew that he had a little bit of difficulty here. But the first two games gave me confidence to play because I noticed that I could cope with the Premier League.’

Influential: Vidic has been key to much of United's success

Roberto Mancini surprised many people by giving Nastasic his debut in the Champions League tie away to Real Madrid in September but he has since become a regular alongside Vincent Kompany, breaking up the City captain’s successful partnership with Joleon Lescott.

‘I feel very proud about that because Joleon is a great player and so is Kolo Toure,’ added Nastasic. ‘I expected a transition of six months, possibly a year, because I thought I would have to learn a different way of playing, to learn to expect different challenges when I play.

‘So I’m very happy at the moment that I have played so much in so little time. In a way that has surprised me but this for me is perfect.’

The deep end: Nastasic's debut came against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu

City first-team coach David Platt believes Nastasic’s progress has justified the chance they took on him last summer.

Platt said: ‘Robbie knew about him for a long time, he knew about him in Florence as well. He got good reviews about him.

‘I think other clubs were looking at him but with a 19-year-old you either take the plunge or you don’t – and we took the plunge.

Transition: After an inconsistent start in England, Vidic became one of the best defenders in the country

‘Matija has done very, very well. He's only young, he's come out of Serie A and it's a different style of football, but he's come in and settled down very well. But it's not just those two, if you look at the two full backs they are exceptional.

‘Am I surprised? No, because we watched him. We knew he had ability and he has played for the Serbian national side so it's not a surprise, but equally we all know the Premier League is cut and thrust.’